The present invention relates to the field of data storage, retrieval and organization. More specifically, the present invention involves a business card with magnetic storage media, a card reader and software to allow universal use of the business card.
Business cards contain textual information. To get the information from the business card into electronic format so that it can be entered into a personal computer or handheld device, the information must be manually typed into the personal computer or the handheld device. Manual typing is time consuming and error prone. Additionally, a typical business card contains very little information compared to what could be stored in the card electronically. Therefore, a need exists for a business card that can contain information stored electronically and that can transmit the electronically stored data to a personal computer or a handheld device.
xe2x80x9cSmart cardsxe2x80x9d exist in banking and finance and the term has been used for credit cards that contain an integrated circuit so that the credit card has some memory and also the ability to perform certain operations.
Cards may have one or more magnetic stripes on one side for storing and transmitting data. U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,105 (the ""105 patent) discloses an electronic business card system with a business card having computer readable data stored on computer readable storage media. The ""105 patent further discloses a card reader coupled to a computer control system so that card data can be organized and manipulated. Specifically the ""105 patent discloses xe2x80x9can electronic business card having first and second sidesxe2x80x9d where the first side has xe2x80x9ccomputer readable storage mediaxe2x80x9d for the storing of business card data, and the second side has xe2x80x9ca printed text representation of the business card data for visual representation.xe2x80x9d (Col. 2 lines 58-62). In one embodiment of the ""105 patent, xe2x80x9corganizational parameters are selected from a group consisting of a name, a business name, a specialty, an address, a telephone number, an area code, and a zip code.xe2x80x9d (Col. 3 lines 10-14). The ""105 patent discloses a magnetic strip card reader and states that xe2x80x9c[o]ther types of card readers are also envisioned such as optical, memory cards and others.xe2x80x9d
Another type of device to enhance the use of business is card scanning software that allows business cards with wide varieties of text and designs to have information scanned by means of large data banks to match words on the cards. One example of such card scanning software is CardScan by Corex Technologies. The CardScan system can be integrated with full featured address books and synchronized with Outlook(copyright) and Palm(trademark).
Several needs exist to further exploit the capabilities of business cards by using them in conjunction with computers, the Internet and handheld personal computing devices. The first need is to expand the amount of data that can be held on a business card so that not only basic information may be stored and transmitted but brochures, business plans, spreadsheets, proposals, and almost any document a business person might want to hand over to a business contact. Existing electronic business cards display up to approximately 100 characters due to the size of the magnetic strip. What is needed is an electronic business card with a much larger storage capacity.
A second need is to provide a format where the data stored on the card can be universally read, retrieved, sent, and received between users of the card and the card reader system. Specifically, a need exists for a card in which data can be stored in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format so that most available software can readily process the information. XML is a condensed form of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and allows software developers for Internet applications greater flexibility than the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) when organizing and presenting information.
A third need is for a secure way to transmit personal messages by writing data to a business card that can be given to a recipient for later use. In order to accomplish this goal, a card reading device must also be able to write to the card. Preferably the card reading device would be a hand held device or a device which attaches to an existing hand held personal computing device.
The xe2x80x9cSmart Business Cardxe2x80x9d (SBC) is a business card that contains printed textual information on the first side and that has a second side of magnetic media for storing electronic information. The second side contains all of the printed information displayed on the first side of the document and also any additional information the user desires to communicate to recipients of the SBC. Examples of additional information are company profile, company project experience of the person owning the business card, information about any deals, commitments, meeting notices, and reminders to the recipient of the card. The information on the second side is written on the magnetic media in XML format.
To write and read to and from the SBC a special device called the Smart Business Card-Read/Write (SBCR/W) is provided. The SBCR/W has interfaces to desktop computers via the USB port or the serial port, and to handheld devices via the USB/Serial Cradle or the infrared port. A Smart Business Card Program (SBCP) in the personal computer or handheld device enables reading and writing data to and from the SBC through the SBCR/W.
The SBCP is XML enabled so that it will understand the data read from the device. The SBCP may be provided with software to interface with other contact databases such as Linux, Palm OS contact DB, and Win CE Contact DB. During installation, the SBCP queries the user about the contact database that will be used. Based on the user selection, the appropriate contact database adapter will be installed and the data will be transferred to the appropriate fields to the contact database. Writing data to the card can also be accomplished using the software provided. Because the data to be read is in XML format, any application capable of handling data in XML format will be able to process the information scanned from the card.